Cheerleaders: The New Evil (5 page)

“Come forward, spirit,” Debra murmured, moving her candle in a slow, steady circle. “Come forward, spirit, to do our bidding.”

Corky leaned closer. The candlelight danced as Debra began to chant, in a low singsong, strange words in a language Corky had never heard. Reading from the book, Debra chanted the words over and over.

As she chanted, Debra raised her eyes to Corky and Kimmy. “Join in,” she instructed.

Leaning over the candle flames, the three girls chanted in unison.

Corky stopped chanting when she heard the creaking footsteps. Soft but steady from the living room. She and Kimmy exchanged glances.

Debra motioned impatiently for them to keep chanting.

Their voices grew softer as the creaking footsteps approached.

Glancing up, Corky saw the pictures on the den wall begin to shake. A low rumble competed with the creaking footsteps. The walls appeared to tremble. China figures on a shelf shook and nearly toppled to the floor.

“It's working!” Debra whispered excitedly, her eyes flashing in the dancing firelight.

Corky felt her throat tighten, but pushed herself to keep chanting. Their voices suddenly sounded tiny over the roaring sound that swirled around them.

The walls shook. The floor began to vibrate.

The whole room is shaking! Corky realized, forcing herself to repeat the strange words.

The footsteps drew closer.

Corky raised her eyes to the doorway. She could hear someone approaching.

But there was no one there.

No one.

The walls trembled. The floor shook. A picture dropped off the wall and fell with a clatter.

“Who—who's there?” Corky cried out.

She felt a rush of cold air. A musty odor swept through the room.

And all the candles went out at once.

C
orky struggled to breathe, the musty odor choking her. A heavy chill settled over the darkness.

Kimmy let out a gasp.

Corky blinked as a light flashed on. Debra had climbed to her feet and clicked on a table lamp. “Spirit—come forward!” Debra cried, her eyes searching the room.

Corky turned toward the doorway. No one there.

“Stop! Stop it!” Kimmy screamed, jumping to her feet. Her face was bright red. Her hair wild about her head. “Please stop it, Debra! I'm too scared!”

“The spirit has left,” Debra replied calmly. “I could feel its presence. It was here in this room. But now it has gone.”

“I don't believe this!” Corky cried, standing up. Her legs weak and rubbery. “We really called up a spirit!”

The room had stopped shaking. Only the damp chill remained.

Kimmy let out a sigh. “Sorry I screamed like that,” she said, smoothing her hair down with both hands. “I—I just got so scared!”

“Me too,” Corky confessed. She stared down at the ring of still-smoking candles. “I was terrified.”

“Something was here in this room,” Debra said with surprising calmness. “If we hadn't panicked, it would have stayed. It wouldn't have vanished. Gone back to wherever it lives.”

“Put the book away!” Kimmy insisted. She picked up the big book, slammed it shut, and thrust it at Debra. “Hide it. The man in the bookstore was right. It's too dangerous.”

“We have to try to forget about chanting and magic spells,” Corky urged, starting to breathe normally again. “We have to try to put it all in the past. It's just too frightening. We have to try to lead normal lives.”

A bitter laugh escaped Debra's throat. Her cold eyes locked on Gorky's. “Normal? After all that's happened here?”

“Corky is right,” Kimmy insisted heatedly. “Hide the book, Debra. We were only looking for trouble.”

“Okay, okay.” Debra rolled her eyes. “I'm outvoted. I'll put it up in my room. I'll save it for a rainy day.”

Corky and Kimmy let out relieved sighs.

They had no way of knowing that the rainy day would come so soon.

Tigers claw!

Tigers ROAR!

Send the ball down the floor—

Two points MORE!

Ivy Blake finished her cheer with a forward flip, landing on her feet. Then she ran off the floor clapping loudly, her long, streaked hair streaming behind her.

Corky and Kimmy watched from the bottom row of the bleachers, making notes on their clipboards. “She's good,” Corky said, watching Ivy trot over to the other cheerleading candidates.

“I like her,” Kimmy agreed. “She's very strong. Very physical.”

Ivy was a big girl, Corky observed. Tall and athletic looking. She had a dramatic face, framed by long wavy hair, brown with blond streaks through it. She wore bright pink lipstick.

“So we've narrowed it down to three girls,” Kimmy said, studying her clipboard. Ms. Closter had been called to a teachers' meeting on the third floor. As co-captains, the choice of Hannah's replacement was up to Corky and Kimmy.

Corky nodded. She started to say something else about Ivy. But a man interrupted.

“Hey, girls—get away from the bleachers! Can't you see we're working up here?”

Corky turned and saw two men in blue coveralls at the top of the bleachers, working on the metal frame that supported the wooden benches.

“Sorry!” Corky called up to them. She and Kimmy whispered about the candidates as they stepped away from the bleachers and made their way across the gym floor to the group of girls.

“You were all great!” Corky told them. She could see the tension on their faces. Ivy seemed to be the only one who remained calm. She applied a fresh coat of pink lipstick to her lips as Corky talked.

“We've narrowed it down to three,” Corky told them. She glanced down at her clipboard. “Ivy Blake, Lauren Wilson, and Rochelle Drexler.”

“We want to thank you all for trying out,” Kimmy told them. “You were all terrific. It was a tough choice.”

She turned to Ivy, Lauren, and Rochelle. “If you three will stay,” Kimmy said. “The rest of you can pick up your stuff and leave. Thanks again for trying out.”

A few girls grumbled, disappointed. A couple lingered to congratulate the three finalists. The others hurried over to the far wall to pick up their coats and backpacks.

Corky watched them make their way out of the gym, then turned back to Ivy, Lauren, and Rochelle. “I wish we could take all three of you,” she told them. “But we need only one replacement.”

“Could you wait over there?” Kimmy asked them, pointing to the bleachers. “Give Corky and me a
couple more minutes. I think we're pretty close to a decision. But we may need you to do another cheer or something if there's a tie.”

“Don't stand too near the bleachers,” Corky warned. “Those men are working up at the top.”

Lauren and Rochelle walked across the floor, talking excitedly. Ivy followed behind them, tugging back her long, streaked hair.

Corky and Kimmy made their way into Ms. Closter's small office in the corner of the gym. Kimmy clicked on the light. Corky sat down on the edge of Ms. Closter's cluttered desk. Kimmy leaned against the doorframe.

Through the large window, Corky gazed out at the three girls waiting awkwardly near the bleachers for a decision.

“They all have strengths and weaknesses,” Kimmy said. “All three have tried out before and almost made the squad. Lauren used to live next door to me until her family moved to North Hills. Now she and Ivy are best friends.”

Corky stared out at Lauren Wilson. She was tall and graceful, with creamy, pale white skin. Her straight auburn hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. She wore a long gray sweatshirt over bright blue leggings.

“Lauren is a great jumper,” Corky commented. “But her voice is kind of weak.”

Kimmy nodded. “Yeah. Rochelle has the best voice. You can hear her two blocks away!”

Rochelle Drexler wore loose-fitting maroon sweats and a maroon and white Shadyside Tigers cap over
her long, white-blond hair. She had a pretty face, perky, with a tiny, upturned nose and round blue eyes.

“Rochelle did a great routine,” Kimmy continued, checking her clipboard. “She had the best height on her spread eagles, and her splits were very graceful.”

“I'd say it's between Rochelle and Ivy,” Corky said thoughtfully, watching the girls through the window. Lauren was trying on Rochelle's cap, twisting it backward, then sideways. Rochelle was sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning over. Her hair hung down over her face to the floor. She was running a hairbrush down through it, brushing vigorously.

But where was Ivy? Had she wandered off?

“Ivy is really good,” Kimmy replied. “Better than Lauren. But she's not as graceful as Rochelle. And Rochelle has a better voice. More spirit too.”

“Then we're decided on Rochelle?” Corky asked.

“Yeah, I guess—” Kimmy started to say.

Corky interrupted her with a startled shout. “Hey!” She jumped off the desk and moved to the door.

Kimmy stepped aside—to reveal Ivy standing behind her, just outside the office.

“Ivy—how long have you been standing there?” Corky demanded sharply. “Were you eavesdropping?”

Ivy's pink lips parted in an
O
of surprise. She blushed until her cheeks were nearly as bright as her lips. “No. No way!” she protested.

“Did you hear what we were saying?” Kimmy asked shrilly.

Ivy shook her head. “No. Really, Kimmy, I didn't
hear a word. Honest.” She raised her right hand as if swearing an oath.

“Then why were you hiding outside the door?” Corky asked.

“I wasn't hiding!” Ivy declared hotly, still blushing. “I just came to ask if you were going to reach a decision soon. I have a tennis lesson, and my mom is waiting in the car.”

“We're almost ready,” Kimmy told her. “Go on back with the other two. We'll be right over.”

Ivy spun around and began walking slowly toward the bleachers. Kimmy turned back to Corky. “Do you think she overheard what we were saying?”

“It doesn't really matter,” Corky replied with a shrug. “We've made our decision, right? The order is: Rochelle, Ivy, Lauren—one, two, three.”

“Right,” Kimmy agreed. “Let's go tell them.”

They stepped out of the office and started toward the bleachers.

Corky stopped and grabbed Kimmy's arm as she heard the man's shout. “Hey—
look out!”

A girl screamed.

Another man's voice wailed, “Nooooo!”

Corky and Kimmy started running across the floor.

Lauren shrieked in horror. The maroon and white cap fell from her hand.

Corky saw Ivy raise her hands to her cheeks, her pink mouth dropping open in shock.

“What's happening? What?” Corky managed to cry out.

Then her eyes fell on Rochelle. Still cross-legged on the floor. Still leaning over, her hair over her face.

“Ohhhhh!” Corky let out a horrified wail when she saw the bright red gush of blood spurting up from Rochelle's neck.

She saw the blood. And then she saw the screwdriver. Stuck deep into the back of Rochelle's neck.

“Ohhhhh no!” Corky knew at once what had happened. The screwdriver had fallen from the bleachers above.

It had dropped straight down.

And now it lay embedded in the back of Rochelle's neck.

The blood poured out over Rochelle.

The hairbrush fell from her hand.

She slumped forward until her head hit the floor.

She didn't move.

C
orky froze a few steps behind Kimmy, unable to believe her eyes.

“Call a doctor! Call a doctor! Call a doctor!” Lauren shrieked, dropping to her knees beside Rochelle.

“But she's dead!” Ivy moaned. Loud sobs escaped Ivy's throat.

“No, she's not! Quick, call a doctor!” Lauren cried, bent over Rochelle's unmoving body.

“What's
happened?”
Ms. Closter came rushing into the gym. She tossed her notebook aside as she saw Rochelle sprawled facedown on the floor. “So much blood! Did she fall?”